Police shut down Madison barber
A Madison barbershop owner who opened in defiance of a statewide executive order has been forced to close by Madison Police.
Mike Land, owner of Family Barber Shop on Hoy Road, said he opened his shop on Monday after receiving advice from his legal counsel that the governor lacked the authority to force him to close.
"I had my lawyer in here for a haircut," said Land who has been in business for two decades. "He handed me his card and said to give him a call if anyone gave me trouble."
On Tuesday morning, Land first received a call from a representative from the State Cosmetology Board saying they'd received a complaint from someone that his shop was open.
Gov. Tate Reeves' "Safer at Home" executive order includes barber shops in a list of business types which must remain closed because they cannot physically maintain social distancing practices outlined by the CDC in the .
"I told her that she didn't have the authority to close me down, and neither did the governor," Land said. "She said she would call the mayor and call me back, but she never did."
About 30 minutes later, a reporter from WAPT (channel 16) arrived. Land said he was hesitant to talk to the reporter, but did so at the behest of his clients and the barbers who work in his shop.
"I tried to tell him what we were up against," Land said. "The women that work in my shop are mostly single mothers, and I'm trying to support my disabled mother, and none of us have received paychecks in nearly six weeks. They don't know what that's like. They are on salary and they are getting paid.
"On top of that, I told them I had received advice from my attorney and that we should be okay to be open."
After the reporter left, according to Land, two Madison Police officers arrived. Land said he tried to explain the situation to an unidentified officer and gave him the contact information for his attorney.
"I told him to call (Madison Police Chief) Gene Waldrop too and get him involved," Land said. "We've been cutting his hair for him for 20 years."
Land said he discovered through a conversation with the officer that a barber from another barbershop had filed a complaint against his store.
Around 1 p.m. Tuesday, Land said, Waldrop arrived at the shop with two other officers and asked Land to close his store in order to comply with Reeves' executive order.
"I told him it's just not fair," Land said. "Walgreens is open. Kroger is open. That's discriminatory."
Land said Waldrop personally issued him a cease and desist order threatening a $500 a day fine if he continues to operate in defiance of Reeves' "Safer at Home" order.
Madison Police sent out a press release Tuesday afternoon saying it had served Family Barber Shop with written notice after "numerous complaints from citizens" and that further violations would be punished under authority laid out in Section 33-15-43 of the Mississippi Code of 1972.
Land subsequently agreed to close his shop at the end of business Tuesday and said he would not reopen until May 11 when the shelter-in-place order expires.
"It's flat-out wrong," Land said. "And I know it's unrelated, but I also told them we should be allowed to go to church. We're all Christians, and the government shouldn't be telling us when we can and cannot go to church or when we can get a haircut."